Amos 9:7-10

DESCRIPTION OF JUDGMENTS PROPHESIEDDISRUPTION AND DISPERSION

TEXT: Amos 9:7-10

7

Are ye not as the children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith Jehovah. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?

8

Behold, the eyes of the Lord Jehovah are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; save that I will not utterly destroy the houses of Jacob, saith Jehovah.

9

For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all the nations, like as grain is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least kernel fall upon the earth.

10

All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, who say, The evil shall not overtake nor meet us.

QUERIES

a.

Why does God compare Israel to the Philistines and Syrians?

b.

What part of the house of Jacob will Jehovah not destroy?

c.

How will God sift Israel like grain in a sieve?

PARAPHRASE

What makes you think, O Israel, that you are any better in My eyes than the Philistines and the Syrians? Just because I brought you from Egypt and put in you this land is no reason to think that I will overlook your sin anymore than I do not overlook the sin of these other nations which I also established in their lands. I am no respecter of person for I am offended with sin in every man. I am fully aware of the sinfulness of the kingdom of Israel, and I will wipe that kingdom off the face of the earth. No, I will not totally destroy the entire house of Jacob for a very few are still righteous and god-fearing people and I will save that remnant. But I am going to give the command and the house of Israel will be disrupted and dispersed among all the nations like grain is shaken and sifted in a sieve. The solid, good grain remains but the trash falls to the ground. So it shall be with Israel. All those sinful, complacent people who say, Evil shall not come upon us, will die violently by the sword. The righteous shall be saved.

SUMMARY

God warns a complacent people that He is no respecter of person. The wicked shall die for their sins. The good shall be saved. God is going to obliterate the kingdom of Israel from the face of the earth.

COMMENT

Amos 9:7-8 ARE YE NOT AS THE CHILDREN OF THE ETHIOPIANS UNTO ME, O CHILDREN OF ISRAEL. BEHOLD THE EYES OF THE LORD. ARE UPON THE SINFUL KINGDOM.. children of the Ethiopians is also translated sons of the Cushites, Ham's posterity. This should pierce the pride of the Israelite as nothing else would dotoliken them to the heathen. It certainly was intended to destroy the veneer of complacency with which they had deluded themselves. The bringing of Israel out of Egypt in a special way avails no more than the bringing of the Syrians and Philistines out of their former dwelling places. God did it all. With God it is not where you came from and what you were that countsit is what you are now and what you are becoming that counts! The sinful of Israel were depending upon their past heritage and special treatment by God. Jesus had to deal with the same complacency and pride with the Pharisees (cf. John 8:31 ff). This trust in themselvesThen Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons; but in every nation he that feareth him and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him, (Acts 10:34-35; cf. Romans 10:12; Matthew 5:45). Special treatment is no license to sin! God is offended by sin in any people, and especially so in a people whom He has chosen and blessed above others! His eyes are upon the sinful kingdom!

Caphtor is probably Crete or perhaps refers to all the islands of the Aegean Sea. Kir is in the general direction of Elam (today it is Iran). For other details on the nations see our comments on Amos Chapter s one and two.

The word of Jehovah is that the kingdom of Israel, as a kingdom, will be totally obliterated from the face of the earth. The fulfillment of this is found in 2 Kings 17. That does not mean, of course, that God has violated His covenant with Jacob (named Israel). God has kept His covenant, even in judgment and destruction of the sinner. Man, the sinner, has not kept his covenant. Those few righteous of the northern kingdom who did keep God's covenant terms were to become (with the righteous of Judah's dispersed) the seed of the messianic nation through which God was going to ultimately fulfill His covenant. Amos is gradually leading into the glorious climax of his prophecy in which he paints word pictures with figurative language of the future blessings of the Messianic age when God shall have fulfilled His promises in Christ and the Church.

Amos 9:9-10. WILL SIFT THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AMONG ALL THE NATIONS. YET SHALL NOT THE LEAST KERNEL FALL UPON THE EARTH. ALL THE SINNERS OF MY PEOPLE SHALL DIE. The heritage of Israel did not grant immunity from judgment, and physical descent from Jacob did not guarantee exemption from accountability. Love is neither blind, nor is it weak. Consequently, as Honeycutt observes, the wrath in God's love and the love in God's wrath should be equally recognized. Remember that one of the backgrounds upon which the prophets are to be read and interpreted is Judgment-Redemption. Judgment is never the last word in God's scheme. There is a redemptive emphasis which is a result of judgment in history.

Amos 9:9 definitely refers to the captivity and dispersion of the ten tribes of Israel which occurred about 722-721 B.C. The Assyrian emperor transported the Jews and scattered them from one city to another in the vast Assyrian empire. He also imported foreigners into the former territory of Israel. These married the few poor and insignificant Jews left behind in Israel and became the Samaritans. The kingdom of Israel was never to be established again. But there is that righteous remnant still within this rotten nation. Not one of those shall fall upon the earth. This will be the holy seed-grain out of which the Lord will form a new and holy people (Christiansthe Church) and kingdom of God over which the son-king in Isaiah 9:11 will reign. K & D likens the Gentile nations among whom the northern kingdom (and later the southern kingdom) was dispersed unto the sieveSuch a sieve are the nations of the world, through which Israel is puried from its chaff, i.e. from its ungodly members. It is true that among those of Judah who returned from the Babylonian captivity with Zerubbabel, Ezra and Nehemiah were some of the ten tribes of Israel.

Sargon II (722-705 B.C.) has left records of the fall of the northern kingdom. Many of the Israelites were deported to Upper Mesopotamia and Media and lost their identity there. Many of the people of Israel lost their national identity through assimilation during the centuries following their deportation. Others made their way southward to Judah, and remnants of them appear among the later Jews. Those who lost their identity are often referred to as the ten lost tribes of Israel. This is not altogether accurate. From the establishment of the Church until time shall cease, however, all Jews, as well as Gentiles, must appropriate the promises of God through Jesus Christ, in whom there is neither Jew nor Greek. We shall amplify this in our next section.

QUIZ

1.

Is God a respecter of person? Prove it!

2.

When God destroyed Israel did He fail to keep His covenant?

3.

Who are the kernels which shall not fall to the ground?

4.

What finally happened to the kingdom of Israel and all its people?

5.

Are there ten lost tribes of Israel today?